Salesman Extraordinaire

At first glance, Mr. Lalit of Parkview shop at Chennamakare appears to be just like any of the thousand merchants trying to make a living selling things. His shop, exactly opposite a park, specialises in selling children's toys, cycles, and other gift articles. Other than that, nothing else seems to set it apart from the others lining the street save for the colorful display of tricycles standing outside the shop doors. Having seen it many times on the way home, it had firmly registered itself on my mind as a possible option for buying kid-related stuff. So when my daughter's birthday came by, Parkview shop was what naturally came to our mind. We entered the shop with just one objective in mind - buy our baby something special as a gift to mark this milestone in her life and ours.

Lalit is a 55+ year old gentleman, the sole in charge of Parkview - there were no other assistants around the premises. When we told him of our intention to buy something special, his first question was "what is your budget." Now that's not a typical question you would expect from a shopkeeper. Contrarily, they try to avoid knowing your budget so that they get a chance to tempt you with all the high-priced goodies. With this kind of unfounded warning (in this case) in my mind, I hesitantly told him Rs.300 - 400. Lalit was matter of fact in his reply: "OK, here are the things you can buy in that money.... this, this, this and that..." I was not impressed with this, this, this and that. It must have showed on my face. His next question was "who is this for? neighbour's kid?" "No, our own!" shot out my husband. "Ha! sir! You should have told me. Why are u trying to stick to 300-400 then?"

In the next twenty minutes or so, out came Mr.Sales executive extraordinaire. He also seemed to be the very incarnation of patience, most tolerant of our indecision and changing choices every other minute. When I made him take a heavy weight rocking horse from the top shelf, with the least intention to buy it but just to see it from close quarters, he didn't seem to mind at all. He was full of advices - mentioning both merits and demerits of everything he showed us. We finally narrowed down the entire shop to three items - a car like cycle, a tent house, and a swing seat. But I wanted to get just two of them though the hubby was loudly tending towards all three. Ha, surely Mr.Sales executive extraordinaire will cease the opportunity to press all the three things on us? No! Instead, do you know what he did?

He rode the cycle for us!! Yes! A 55+ aged man, sitting on a low cycle car, steering the vehicle around the shop, demonstrating the value the piece would bring to us - an utter joy to watch indeed! We were embarrassed just watching him - he was the exact opposite. In fact, he insisted my husband to try it for himself. "You might riding this cycle more than your kid, I tell you" he grinned. Need I tell you if we brought it?

When it came to the time of billing, being the plastic people, I asked him breezily - "you do accept cards?" "Yes, but you will be charged the 2% extra charges... is it debit or credit?" he questioned. "Oh, debit but that's OK... i don't mind the charges!" Lalit was aghast! "If it is debit card, why do you want to waste that money? there is an ATM nearby, go on... you can save 40 rs with which you can buy a big chocolate for your daughter! Meanwhile, I will have your cycle and tent ready all wrapped and ready to carry home"

We took us a good ten minutes to the nearby ATM. But we were impressed. With the salesman that Mr.Lalit is, with his patience, with his honesty, with his amazing selling skills.

Naturally, when we came back, I was curious to know more about him and his business. He was delighted to share his story. He had always been a business man - a BA, LLB graduate from the 1960's - dealing mainly with wholesales consumer items but more recently has opened a retail kid's store because of his love for children. When I asked him what he would advice young businessmen who are just staring out, he was very emphatic on three points.

• Never take credit - never ever give them either
• Do not employ people to work if you don't really need the extra hands
• Treat your business as you would your body - take utmost care of it, give it enough attention, and do it all yourself - the dirty as well as not-so-dirty tasks. Your business will definitely reward you with a healthy living.

And of course, you got to be a salesman extraordinaire!

Treat your business as you would your body!

At first glance, Mr. Lalit of Parkview shop at Chennamakare appears to be just like any of the thousand merchants trying to make a living selling things. His shop, exactly opposite a park, specialises in selling children's toys, cycles, and other gift articles. Other than that, nothing else seems to set it apart from the others lining the street save for the colorful display of tricycles standing outside the shop doors. Having seen it many times on the way home, it had firmly registered itself on my mind as a possible option for buying kid-related stuff. So when my daughter's birthday came by, Parkview shop was what naturally came to our mind. We entered the shop with just one objective in mind - buy our baby something special as a gift to mark this milestone in her life and ours.

Lalit is a 55+ year old gentleman, the sole in charge of Parkview - there were no other assistants around the premises. When we told him of our intention to buy something special, his first question was "what is your budget." Now that's not a typical question you would expect from a shopkeeper. Contrarily, they try to avoid knowing your budget so that they get a chance to tempt you with all the high-priced goodies. With this kind of unfounded warning (in this case) in my mind, I hesitantly told him Rs.300 - 400. Lalit was matter of fact in his reply: "OK, here are the things you can buy in that money.... this, this, this and that..." I was not impressed with this, this, this and that. It must have showed on my face. His next question was "who is this for? neighbour's kid?" "No, our own!" shot out my husband. "Ha! sir! You should have told me. Why are u trying to stick to 300-400 then?"

In the next twenty minutes or so, out came Mr.Sales executive extraordinaire. He also seemed to be the very incarnation of patience, most tolerant of our indecision and changing choices every other minute. When I made him take a heavy weight rocking horse from the top shelf, with the least intention to buy it but just to see it from close quarters, he didn't seem to mind at all. He was full of advices - mentioning both merits and demerits of everything he showed us. We finally narrowed down the entire shop to three items - a car like cycle, a tent house, and a swing seat. But I wanted to get just two of them though the hubby was loudly tending towards all three. Ha, surely Mr.Sales executive extraordinaire will cease the opportunity to press all the three things on us? No! Instead, do you know what he did?

He rode the cycle for us!! Yes! A 55+ aged man, sitting on a low cycle car, steering the vehicle around the shop, demonstrating the value the piece would bring to us - an utter joy to watch indeed! We were embarrassed just watching him - he was the exact opposite. In fact, he insisted my husband to try it for himself. "You might riding this cycle more than your kid, I tell you" he grinned. Need I tell you if we brought it?

When it came to the time of billing, being the plastic people, I asked him breezily - "you do accept cards?" "Yes, but you will be charged the 2% extra charges... is it debit or credit?" he questioned. "Oh, debit but that's OK... i don't mind the charges!" Lalit was aghast! "If it is debit card, why do you want to waste that money? there is an ATM nearby, go on... you can save 40 rs with which you can buy a big chocolate for your daughter! Meanwhile, I will have your cycle and tent ready all wrapped and ready to carry home"

We took us a good ten minutes to the nearby ATM. But we were impressed. With the salesman that Mr.Lalit is, with his patience, with his honesty, with his amazing sales skills.

Naturally, when we came back, I was curious to know more about him and his business. He was delighted to share his story. He had always been a business man - a BA, LLB graduate from the 1960's - dealing mainly with wholesales consumer items but had more recently opened a retail kid's store because of his love for children. When I asked him what he would advice young businessmen who are just staring out, he was very emphatic on three points.

• Never take credit - never ever give them either
• Do not employ people to work if you don't really need the extra hands
• Treat your business as you would your body - take utmost care of it, give it enough attention, and do it all yourself - the dirty as well as not-so-dirty tasks. Your business will definitely reward you with a healthy living.

The last point stuck me as very true, especially if you are in a startup stage. You got to get your hands dirty. What do you think?

The June Edition of Startup Saturday Bangalore

To say that it was a full house at the Startup Saturday Bangalore June Edition would be an understatement. The hall was filled to capacity. This was my first time attending this forum but I was not disappointed. The event turned out to be amazingly organized and informative.

The focus of this month was "e-Commerce and Internet businesses." Four companies in the online business presented their cases, business models, value proposition, and where they dream to take their business forward. A common thread between all these guys is their focus on consumers - all of them were primarily targeted at the B2C market - not surprising considering the huge potential of the Indian Internet population. At the end of these presentations was a small talk by Rajeev Goswami of Shore Consulting on "Marketing for Startups."

First to kick off the demo was Abhishek Kumar of eveningflavours.com. The business is simple - provide the consumers a place to locate restaurants according to their preferences and book a table if they wish. On the other side, tie up with restaurants, bars, pubs, etc. and offer them technology and marketing solutions; and bring them online visibility. The idea is not new. A poll at the end of the presentation saw an equal raise of hands for both options of "Do you think this business will succeed or fail?"

Next to take the stage was the exuberant and highly energetic founder of LetsOlla.com - Aashish Solanki. He is also the founder of NetBrahma, a design production company based in Bangalore - he also happens to be a co-founder of HeadStart.in, I heard. This young man was literally oozing energy all over the stage - his passion for his business was so clearly evident. An important trait VCs and investors look for I am sure. Moving on to his business, LetsOlla is a concept of online facilitated bartering, lending, sharing or give away of products/services. Though the idea is age-old, the execution and medium is what makes it fresh. Not to forget the beautiful minimalistic design of the product that we got to witness during the quick demo. I am not sure if I was impressed with LetsOlla but I sure was smitten by NetBrahma.

These two demos were followed by lightening presentations by AIOBazaar and WebDhaba. Lightening meaning quick ten minutes walk through of the business model. AIOBazaar (standing for All in One) is into online ordering of food items - groceries in general. AIOBazaar has tied up with various food marts including the big players like FoodWorld, Reliance, etc. - you get to shop online at the convenience of your home - and shop for items from multiple stores - and get them delivered at your doorstep. There are clearly other players in the market who are doing the exact same thing. Whether the business will sustain is a question only time can answer.

WebDhaba is again an online food ordering business - food from restaurants. Complete with menu and price details online, the value proposition of the business seems to be exactly that. Order what you want - at the price point you prefer (comparing restaurants)- and take your time while doing it. They are doing good business in Mangalore but are yet to attack the Bangalore market fully. The founder was wise enough to acknowledge that alliances and partnership with other companies in similar line might what make the difference to his business.

Rajeev Goswami is a 50+ old gentleman. He has held senior leadership positions at companies like IBM and CA. Right now, he is the CEO of Shore Consulting, a advisory company for Startups who are just reaching the operation stage. Their focus clearly is on offering marketing expertise to the startups. Like Aashish Solanki, Rajeev was a high voltage man too. The crowd was buzzing with excitement. A separate post on his presentation will follow.

The best part of the day turned out to be the last five minutes when the forum was opened upto the audience for a quick introduction of entrepreneurs/startups in the crowd (to facilitate the networking session that was to follow). Though people were initially hesitant to get up and identify themselves as an entrepreneur (there's always that hesitation I noticed!), soon they got going and we heard an eclectic mix of business services, products and consultancy pitches. For instance, the mention of an online saree shop caused mild amusement to ripple through the audience.

Startup Saturday Bangalore June Edition wrapped up around 2 PM after a round of networking for which I didn't stay back.

Lessons? High energy, motivation, passion, and solid business idea are some of the requirements that startups MUST meet. And I must start attending this event regularly.

Startup Saturday Bangalore June Edition

To say that it was a full house at the Startup Saturday Bangalore June Edition would be an understatement. The hall was filled to capacity. This was my first time attending this forum but I was not disappointed. The event turned out to be amazingly organized and informative.

The focus of this month was "e-Commerce and Internet businesses." Four companies in the online business presented their cases, business models, value proposition, and where they dream to take their business forward. A common thread between all these guys is their focus on consumers - all of them were primarily targeted at the B2C market - not surprising considering the huge potential of the Indian Internet population. At the end of these presentations was a small talk by Rajeev Goswami of Shore Consulting on "Marketing for Startups."

First to kick off the demo was Abhishek Kumar of eveningflavours.com. The business is simple - provide the consumers a place to locate restaurants according to their preferences and book a table if they wish. On the other side, tie up with restaurants, bars, pubs, etc. and offer them technology and marketing solutions; and bring them online visibility. The idea is not new. A poll at the end of the presentation saw an equal raise of hands for both options of "Do you think this business will succeed or fail?"

Next to take the stage was the exuberant and highly energetic founder of LetsOlla.com - Aashish Solanki. He is also the founder of NetBrahma, a design production company based in Bangalore - he also happens to be a co-founder of HeadStart.in, I heard. This young man was literally oozing energy all over the stage - his passion for his business was so clearly evident. An important trait VCs and investors look for I am sure. Moving on to his business, LetsOlla is a concept of online facilitated bartering, lending, sharing or give away of products/services. Though the idea is age-old, the execution and medium is what makes it fresh. Not to forget the beautiful minimalistic design of the product that we got to witness during the quick demo. I am not sure if I was impressed with LetsOlla but I sure was smitten by NetBrahma.

These two demos were followed by lightening presentations by AIOBazaar and WebDhaba. Lightening meaning quick ten minutes walk through of the business model. AIOBazaar (standing for All in One) is into online ordering of food items - groceries in general. AIOBazaar has tied up with various food marts including the big players like FoodWorld, Reliance, etc. - you get to shop online at the convenience of your home - and shop for items from multiple stores - and get them delivered at your doorstep. There are clearly other players in the market who are doing the exact same thing. Whether the business will sustain is a question only time can answer.

WebDhaba is again an online food ordering business - food from restaurants. Complete with menu and price details online, the value proposition of the business seems to be exactly that. Order what you want - at the price point you prefer (comparing restaurants)- and take your time while doing it. They are doing good business in Mangalore but are yet to attack the Bangalore market fully. The founder was wise enough to acknowledge that alliances and partnership with other companies in similar line might what make the difference to his business.

Rajeev Goswami is a 50+ old gentleman. He has held senior leadership positions at companies like IBM and CA. Right now, he is the CEO of Shore Consulting, a advisory company for Startups who are just reaching the operation stage. Their focus clearly is on offering marketing expertise to the startups. Like Aashish Solanki, Rajeev was a high voltage man too. The crowd was buzzing with excitement. A separate post on his presentation will follow.

The best part of the day turned out to be the last five minutes when the forum was opened upto the audience for a quick introduction of entrepreneurs/startups in the crowd (to facilitate the networking session that was to follow). Though people were initially hesitant to get up and identify themselves as an entrepreneur (there's always that hesitation I noticed!), soon they got going and we heard an eclectic mix of business services, products and consultancy pitches. For instance, the mention of an online saree shop caused mild amusement to ripple through the audience.

Startup Saturday Bangalore June Edition wrapped up around 2 PM after a round of networking for which I didn't stay back.

Lessons? High energy, motivation, passion, and solid business idea are some of the requirements that startups MUST meet. And I must start attending this event regularly.

Why should you work for startups?

1. Complete autonomy (which translates to more responsibility obviously)
2. Better visibility - with managers, big bosses, and customers
3. Opportunity to get involved in diverse opportunities - organizing fun events, "b*tch about my colleagues" projects, etc., etc. without fearing management action
4. Faster growth
5. Closer friendships and relationships (ahem!) with colleagues
6. You can watch TV in the recreation room from 1 till 4 in the evening and get away with it .
7. No Internet restrictions
8. Laugh at a senior in meetings till you are red in the face and all you may get in return is an indulgent smile
9. People believe they are owners of their work assignments - They care
10. Call for meetings when you are bored; you are sure to get 100% attendance :)
11. Friendly IT and HR staff
12. Colleagues are more willing to cover for you
13. You know what the person sitting in the next cubicle is doing; sometimes even what the office boy is doing
14. Oh, how can I forget? The security and the office boys are so nice and they are out to please you if only you show them a little courtesy - say Good Morning and smile at them everyday - in other words, treat them as anyone else in the company
15. Get called Madam (or Sir!) - Oh, I just love that!
16. People trust you not to steal company sensitive data and become an overnight millionaire selling it in ebay
17. Most importantly, you have time for your personal life. Whether it is blogging, Twitting, just browsing the net, reading, writing or falling in Love

And now the negative side of it

1. Lower salary (maybe)
2. Lesser perks and benefits
3. You can't boast about being employed at "Top 10", "Fortune 10", "Blah 10", or such!
4. People blink when you tell them I work at DFG small company
5. You may have to put in longer hours at times - since you own what you do
6. You are down in the dumps one day and the entire world knows it (thats also a nice thing, isn't it?)
7. A S S licking is rampant (Ha! I can't believe I can be so crass but hey that's the fact and I couldn't find any better phrase to say it the way it is)
8. Collective employee morale (Somebody bitches about Anybody and the next day all the friends of Somebody in office hate Anybody!)
9. There's no one to pass on the low level jobs like formatting or cleanup. You got to do it yourself. Sometimes, it gets passed on to you but there's no way you can pass it on to anyone else. But in big companies, there are technical writers to do that kind of stuff :)
10. God save you if some office Romeo takes a fancy to you. Apart from getting teased mercilessly, you have to constantly ensure you don't end up being alone in the lift or corridor with the Romeo. Or if you get into a tiff with a colleague. Being a small office set up, life can turn pretty nasty.

Bangalore Photography Workshops - No dearth of choices!

I wanted to give the hubby something different for a birthday gift this year. For how long can one surprise the man with mobile phones, watches, electronic stuff… and cards? You will agree that it is a daunting task to come up with innovative gift ideas year after year, especially for men (while for women it is the easiest thing - there are so many choices. Now whether the woman will actually like your choice is another matter!). So there I was, wracking my brain a good one month before his birthday searching for bright ideas, when I remembered how he always claims to be a better photographer than me. Voila! My gift idea reared up and stared me in the face.

Why not actually make him better at the art than me? And while at that, learn the tricks of the trade without paying for it (by threatening the man with dire consequences if he doesn’t remember and repeat word for word what he heard at the workshop). Send him to a photography workshop!

The next obvious step was of course to search for such workshops in and around the city. And man, I tell you that’s when I got oh so totally floored. In the last three years while I was sleeping, the photographers in the city seem to have made photography workshops the “in” thing to do. A simple search in Google turns up so many results and choices. And it becomes really difficult to sort the chaff from the wheat. That’s when I decided to make the list below for easy comparison. Exactly like the comparison list I made for buying my two pathetic cameras (in retrospect! But they were the best choices at that time!!).

Being the good samaritan that I am, and to have something to fill the “achievements” space in membership forms, let me share my list of Bangalore based Photography workshops and their details. Before you proceed further, read the disclaimer at the bottom once. And twice. If you still find any of the information listed here to be untrue for this timestamp, just email me. I will get it corrected as soon as I can.

Name	Conducted by	Next/Last scheduled	Where	How much	Duration	More details
Photography workshop	Amoghavarsha	Next one on 13th and 14th June	Usually in a nature camp called Forest trails at Bannerghatta Reserve Forest but this time inside the city	Rs.3500 (inside the city)	2 days	Here
Photography workshop	Kalyan Varma	Next one on 13th and 14th June; Usually conducted every month	Usually in a hotel	Rs.4000	2 days	Here
The Contrarian Photo Workshop	Mahesh Shantaram	Next one on July 11th and 12th	Photographer's house at Murugeshpalya	Rs.3500	2 days	Here
Elephas Photography Workshop	Sudhir Shivram (Elephas)	Last one was on May 23rd and 24th	Usually in a hotel	Rs.3850	2 days	Here
Weekend Workshops in Basics In Still Photography	Bangalore School of Arts and Photography (Anand Sharan)	No information on the last workshop this year; Is not very regular I think	Studio at Koramangala	Rs.4500	Spread over 5 days - roughly 4 hours each day	Here
Introduction to Photography and Camera	Active Canvas	Last one on June 6th, 7th & 13th	Active Canvas, Jayanagar	Rs.750	3 days - 3 hours each day	Here
Photography on the Move	getoff ur ass (Hellmuth Conz)	No information on the last workshop this year	Field	Not revealed	Maybe 2 days	Here
Theme-based photography workshop	Canon/National Institute of Creative Communication (NICC)	Last one was on May 23rd	Canon Image Lounge on Brigade Road	Rs.1000	1 day	Phone: 65337001, 65337002

Some of these photographers also conduct out of town workshop like the interesting Agumbe Rainforest Photography expedition by Amoghavarsha and Anamalai Tiger Reserve/Valaparai Photographic Expedition by Kalyan Varma. There are also more technically focused workshops like the digital Photography workshop by Sudhir Shivaram. And I heard from a friend that Jayanth Sharma of Wildlifetimes.com also conducts workshops – but sadly his Website is down so I don’t have any details. Here is another one I came across very recently i.e. today! – I saw it in the Timeout Bengaluru Magazine - An Online Photography workshop by Mahesh Bhat. Online workshop, isn’t that cool? I am sure there might be more folks offering workshops but these are the reliable ones I know of. If you have heard of any other workshop you want me to include here just leave a comment or email me.

So which workshop did I send my husband to finally, you askth? Wait and Watch. I will hear his experience and maybe blog about it!

Disclaimer: All the information here is collected from the websites, blogs, and forum/groups of the photographers/organizing companies. I did not take the effort to get any of it verified by emailing them. So this information is applicable only for this particular timestamp. The photographers/organizers might update their site any minute and revise the offerings or its price – for which obviously I can’t be held responsible. Did I say this is time stamped? I don’t lie so rest assured this is information you can rely on and of course, I am not associated with any of them. No marketing gimmick, this one.

Protospace Bangalore – Good for Entrepreneurs who are just about starting out

I chanced upon Protospace Bangalore via Twitter. It is such a lovely idea to create a shared infrastructure for independent professionals to work in. Kudos to the guys who thought it up.

The concept seems very simple – you are a professional who works alone, or maybe you are a freelancer who works at home, or perhaps you are an entrepreneur who is still incubating. Why should you spend unnecessarily in renting out an entire office space or apartment for yourself or just a small team? With the economy being the way it is (duh!), it makes so much more sense to work in a shared space and share all the associated costs that comes with it, doesn’t it? Or for people like me who are or want to be independent professionals, and for whom working from home is not an option (for reasons like discipline, discipline and then discipline) it is a great idea to operate out of a formal workspace such as this and yet have some control over your environment.

I have come across other forms of this concept before at the HeadStart discussion forums and other blogs. But those were more like vacant seats in an office which the resident companies were trying to get occupied and share the costs for them. But Protospace is a novel idea where ALL the residents of the workspace operate in a similar fashion. I don’t think more than half the residents will belong to the same company or group. And that’s what makes the idea look so attractive to me. There’s so many opportunities for interactions, inspirations, and synergies for the eventual residents of the workspace who will be from varied fields. And what’s more, they are even proposing shared facilities like coffee machine and library!

Sounds perfect to me.

SiliconIndia Startup City

It was well worth attending the SiliconIndia Startup City event at the Nimhans Convention Center in Bangalore today. The morning sessions turned out to be very interesting. Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder CEO of Naukri.com, spoke about how he happened on the idea of a job site and what kept him going. His advice to the startups, which he called "Wisdom in Hindsight", were very clear: Know your customers, Solve an unsolved problem, be an early mover, be frugal with your cost, don't get into a business just for making money, and finally and most importantly Persistence.

When Ajit Balakrishnan, co-founder and CEO of Rediff.com, walked in on the stage, the crowd was visibly excited. Rediff, after all, is our very own home-grown portal standing shoulder to shoulder with the big guys (as is naukri of course). Rediff, as you all may know is part of the main business Rediffusion which is a media company. It was apparently started out by Ajit just to see what the Internet can accomplish but later become an integral part of his business. Today, Rediff.com is headed towards mobile and is continously thinking of innovative ways to keep up with technology and customer needs. While Ajit told the crowd about this exciting journey and responsibility of being an Indian portal, his advice to the startups was only one: periodic re-invention.

The rest of the three morning sessions were presentation by the event sponsors - Amazon on their Web Services, Sun on their Startup Essentials, and Nokia on its ForumNokia. All of them highlighted how they can help the startup community (Amazon with their cost-effective cloud solutions, Sun with their support for open source products, and Nokia through opening their OVI for mobile developers).

The event ended with a keynote session by Sanjay Nayak of Tejas Networks. Sanjay turned out to be best and most inspiring speaker of the day. He shared his thoughts about the opportunities in the Indian ecospace, especially for a product company.

The afternoon sessions were parallel tracks of presentations by startups to VCs. I did not stay back for these though the line up of startups in each of the tracks were pretty interesting. Maybe next year, I will be presenting like one of them. Let's see.

Overall, not a bad investment in time.

Visit to the Startup City

For the first time, I took myself seriously and attended the SiliconIndia Startup City event at the Nimhans Convention Center in Bangalore today. The morning sessions turned out to be very interesting. Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder CEO of Naukri.com, spoke about how he happened on the idea of a job site and what kept him going. His advice to the startups, which he called "Wisdom in Hindsight", were very clear: Know your customers, Solve an unsolved problem, be an early mover, be frugal with your cost, don't get into a business just for making money, and finally and most importantly Persistence.

When Ajit Balakrishnan, co-founder and CEO of Rediff.com, walked in on the stage, the crowd was visibly excited. Rediff, after all, is our very own home-grown portal standing shoulder to shoulder with the big guys (as is naukri of course). Rediff, as you all may know is an offshoot of the main business Rediffusion which is a media company. It was apparently started out by Ajit just to see what the Internet can accomplish but later become an integral part of his business. Today, Rediff.com is headed towards mobile and is continously thinking of innovative ways to keep up with technology and customer needs. While Ajit told the crowd about this exciting journey and responsibility of being an Indian portal, his advice to the startups was only one: periodic re-invention.

The rest of the three morning sessions were presentation by the event sponsors - Amazon on their Web Services, Sun on their Startup Essentials, and Nokia on its ForumNokia. All of them highlighted how they can help the startup community (Amazon with their cost-effective cloud solutions, Sun with their support for open source products, and Nokia through opening their OVI for mobile developers).

The event ended with a keynote session by Sanjay Nayak of Tejas Networks. Sanjay turned out to be best and most inspiring speaker of the day. He shared his thoughts about the opportunities in the Indian ecospace, especially for a product company.

The afternoon sessions were parallel tracks of presentations by startups to VCs. I did not stay back for these though the line up of startups in each of the tracks were pretty interesting. Maybe next year, I will be presenting like one of them. Ha, ha, ha. Let's see.

Overall, not a bad investment in time. I wish I had attended the previous event organized by SiliconIndia on Women entrepreneurs. Seeing how nice this one turned out, I'm sure that one would have been nice too.